I gave you 5 questions to ask 100 Christians. Only 2 of those questions dealt with belief, and that was the first two. The other 3 dealt with their personal experience with Jesus Christ.

You cannot have a personal experience with someone or something that is not real. But in order to investigate if something/someone is real you first have to be willing to hear the testimonies of those who have had the experiences. I’m lead to believe that you’re not at all interested in doing this.

Funny. Anecdotal & witness testimony are both legal terms used exclusively in court of law leading up to almost every trial where witnesses are involved. Ask my 5 questions to 100 Christians and you’ll have yourself and interesting trial in court. But you wouldn’t want to take this to court so you throw Argumentum ad populum out there. In this case Jesus is the one on trial, not me.

Let me throw this one out at you: Ignoratio elenchi

You’re using it.

Sure you can.

Belief does not indicate reality.

Every single person on the planet could believe in the exact same god…it still wouldn’t be good evidence for the existence of that god. Look up argumentum ad populum…it’s a logical fallacy, and you’re using it.

“Tell me how many of them were truly anecdotal. ”

All of them.

"I would then ask each of the 2 billion to describe this person ‘Jesus’. And after getting thousands, if not millions of differing and even contradictory descriptions, I would question whether they even meant the same person." <— Would you question or would you conclude that they meant a different Jesus? And how would you judge which Jesus they meant?

The thing is if you were to ask each of the 2 billion to what they BELIEVE about Jesus, I would have to agree with you that there would be thousands, if not millions of differing and contradictory answers and that would be anecdotal evidence.

But if you were to ask these 2 billion people "Who is Jesus Christ?" I think you will find that an overwhelming majority of them will say that He is God, which is what He's on trail for in our scenario. If you were to ask these 2 billion people "Is Jesus real?" likewise, you would find an overwhelming majority say "Yes, He is." If then you were to ask them "How do you know that He's real?" I'm sure, then, that's when things would start getting interesting. I'm sure that there would be all sorts of different answers. Some coming from personal experience, some coming from theological studies, some coming from actual scientific studies. (The Bible does say that God reveals Himself in nature. Nature can be studied!!)

The thing is even though the answers start to become different and start to become unique, you'll find that they can still be corroborated, thus making it reliable testimony in a court of law–not just anecdotal evidence!!

"Personal anecdotes are the absolute worse form of evidence. Science recognizes this. The justice system has yet to catch up." <— Yet, is it not still considered evidence none-the-less? Besides, we're talking not talking anecdotal evidence, we're talking witness testimony that can be corroborated even before it gets to a court of law.

"I can, conceivably, prove using evidence of my claims in that scenario. No one has yet to do so regarding religious claims." <— That's in no way, shape, or form a direct answer to my question. I asked, "The only thing standing between him and life in prison with a possible death sentence is your testimony—would you, sir, want your testimony thrown out as evidence?" Your testimony is the evidence, itself, and it's the only thing you have to save his life. But since it's just your word against all the scientific and forensic evidence, I would guess that means that all you have to save your friends life would be anecdotal evidence.

"First of all, I’d like you to point to where I said that people shouldn’t be allowed to give testimony. Of course they should be allowed. However, personal anecdotes…." <— Yes. I understand that there's a difference between witness testimony and anecdotal evidence.

But when the question is asked, "Is God real?" you cannot write off the testimony of 2 billion witnesses who can testify to His reality in their lives as "anecdotal." Not when there's that many people who's testimony can be corroborated.

Let me ask you one more question, if I may. How many people out of the 2 billion people walking the face of the earth who claim to be Christian have you personally interviewed/questioned? I'm not talking about debating. I'm talking about doing an actual investigation to see how many of their testimonies can be corroborated.

The reason I ask this is because I find it terribly insulting that you automatically discount my testimony as being an personal anecdote when 1.) you've never interviewed me, so you don't even know my testimony 2.) you haven't investigate to see if my testimony lines up with others that you've heard.

I challenge you to do this. Leave religion out of it. Simply ask 100 people who claim to be Christian these questions:

– Is Jesus Christ God?
– Is Jesus Christ real?
– How do you know Jesus Christ is real?
– What has Jesus Christ done for you?
– How has Jesus Christ changed your life?

After personally interviewing 100 people tell me how many of their testimonies corroborated with each other. Tell me how many of them were truly anecdotal. Tell me what percentage you find to be reliable witness as determined by law.

I would find it very questionable that despite the fact so many people testify to this being’s existence, none of them can provide any good physical evidence.

I would then ask each of the 2 billion to describe this person ‘Jesus’. And after getting thousands, if not millions of differing and even contradictory descriptions, I would question whether they even meant the same person.

Personal anecdotes are the absolute worse form of evidence. Science recognizes this. The justice system has yet to catch up.

“Should your testimony be thrown out?”

I can, conceivably, prove using evidence of my claims in that scenario. No one has yet to do so regarding religious claims.

“Could you imagine what the justice system would look like here in America if people couldn’t give their testimony in a court case?”

First of all, I’d like you to point to where I said that people shouldn’t be allowed to give testimony. Of course they should be allowed.

However, personal anecdotes should be looked at for what they are…the absolutely worse type of evidence there is. If more people realized that fact, I imagine far less innocent people would be in prison.

“but there’s no justice in your logic.”

I think your conception of justice is wrong.

Let’s say Jesus Christ is on trial in a court of law & you were the only judge. He is being charged with being God Almighty. The prosecution calls 2 billion people who claim to worship Jesus Christ to come forward and give their testimony. Would you throw out their testimonies as evidence?

Some are little old ladies, some scientist, some professors, some are tribal leaders, some are priest, some are pastors, some are high school kids, some are former atheist, etc. They come from all levels of education, all social and economical classes. They’re from all walks of life. Would you throw out their testimonies as evidence?

They talk of life changing events. They talk of personal experiences that they’ve had with Jesus. Some may tell stories of miracles, others may only share a time when they were going through a difficult situation & Jesus gave them peace. Some may talk of supernatural things that they may have witnessed, and others may simply tell of how the Bible convicted of a flaw in their character. They may tell stories of when they prayed and Jesus answered, or when they worshiped Him at home in their living rooms and they felt Him near. Would you throw out their testimonies as evidence?

To switch it up a little bit: If your best friend was being convicted of murder and you knew that he didn’t do it because you was with him the night the murder took place.

All other evidence is against him. The only thing standing between him and life in prison with a possible death sentence is your testimony—would you, sir, want your testimony thrown out as evidence?

You can’t make the people in the jury experience being their with your friend like you was. You can’t make them physically see the movie that you was watching or hear the conversation that took place between the two of you. All you can do is relate to them the experience that took place.

Your friend’s life is on the line here. There’s a judge. There’s a jury. All evidence physical and scientific evidence is against you & your friend. His life hangs in the balance. Should your testimony be thrown out?

You said, “Unless or until I am abducted myself, or they bring back something more than a personal anecdote, then the evidence just isn’t good enough….But unless I experience whatever evidence you claim to have experienced, it’s not believable.”

I would feel lead to believe, based upon your responses in this blog, that you would have someone’s testimony thrown out because it could not be personally experienced by the jury.

Wow. Could you imagine what the justice system would look like here in America if people couldn’t give their testimony in a court case? haha!!

I’m sorry, Morsecode, but there’s no justice in your logic.

Let’s say Jesus Christ is on trial in a court of law & you were the only judge. He is being charged with being God Almighty. The prosecution calls 2 billion people who claim to worship Jesus Christ to come forward and give their testimony. Would you throw out their testimonies as evidence?

Some are little old ladies, some scientist, some professors, some are tribal leaders, some are priest, some are pastors, some are high school kids, some are former atheist, etc. They come from all levels of education, all social and economical classes. They’re from all walks of life. Would you throw out their testimonies as evidence?

They talk of life changing events. They talk of personal experiences that they’ve had with Jesus. Some may tell stories of miracles, others may only share a time when they were going through a difficult situation & Jesus gave them peace. Some may talk of supernatural things that they may have witnessed, and others may simply tell of how the Bible convicted of a flaw in their character. They may tell stories of when they prayed and Jesus answered, or when they worshiped Him at home in their living rooms and they felt Him near. Would you throw out their testimonies as evidence?

To switch it up a little bit: If your best friend was being convicted of murder and you knew that he didn’t do it because you was with him the night the murder took place.

All other evidence is against him. The only thing standing between him and life in prison with a possible death sentence is your testimony—would you, sir, want your testimony thrown out as evidence?

You can’t make the people in the jury experience being their with your friend like you was. You can’t make them physically see the movie that you was watching or hear the conversation that took place between the two of you. All you can do is relate to them the experience that took place.

Your friend’s life is on the line here. There’s a judge. There’s a jury. All evidence physical and scientific evidence is against you & your friend. His life hangs in the balance. Should your testimony be thrown out?

You said, “Unless or until I am abducted myself, or they bring back something more than a personal anecdote, then the evidence just isn’t good enough….But unless I experience whatever evidence you claim to have experienced, it’s not believable.”

I would feel lead to believe, based upon your responses in this blog, that you would have someone’s testimony thrown out because it could not be personally experienced by the jury.

Wow. Could you imagine what the justice system would look like here in America if people couldn’t give their testimony in a court case? haha!!

I’m sorry, Morsecode, but there’s no justice in your logic.

Just to be clear, I tried to be as specific with my wording as possible.

You can not, in fact, demonstrate whatever personal experiences you have had that confirm the existence of Jesus to another person. You can relate those experiences. You can swear to their accuracy. But you can’t give that experience to me.

In the same way, and forgive me for lumping you in together, that a UFO abductee can’t make me experience their abduction. Unless or until I am abducted myself, or they bring back something more than a personal anecdote, then the evidence just isn’t good enough. And the same applies to your deity.

And this, by the way, does not mean that your experience didn’t happen. For all I know they did. But unless I experience whatever evidence you claim to have experienced, it’s not believable.

Anyway, I just wanted to make sure I was clear.

Trust but verify, right?

“you cannot demonstrate that the person who you say you trust exists with any good evidence.”

This I would debate, but I imagine you get enough of that on your blog. lol It would be hard for me to present anything here that you haven’t heard or read before concerning evidence of God’s existence. I’m sure you could make a better argument of God’s existence than I could, and I’m the one who believes in His existence! The fact is that the burden of proof is not on my shoulders when it comes to your belief. If God is, and is who I think He is, He has the ability to prove to you what He wills.

I look forward to more of your posts. I enjoyed the “Merry Christmas!” one.